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Investigators identified a way in which a type of lung cancer co-opts a portion of the immune system to increase tumor progression. They describe a “crosstalk” between lung tumors and bone marrow, which lead to the generation of a type of immune cell that travels to the tumor and promoted its progression. [Press release from Massachusetts General Hospital discussing online prepublication in Science]
Press Release | Abstract

The authors report that the pyroptosis regulator gasdermin D (GSDMD) was necessary for IL-1β secretion from living macrophages that have been exposed to inflammasome activators, such as bacteria and their products or host-derived oxidized lipids. Cell- and liposome-based assays demonstrated that GSDMD pores were required for IL-1β transport across an intact lipid bilayer. [Immunity]
Abstract | Press Release | Graphical Abstract

Researchers showed that the intestines of cryopyrin-associated periodic syndrome model mice carrying an Nlrp3R258W mutation maintain homeostasis in the gut. Additionally, such mice were strongly resistant to experimental colitis and colorectal cancer; this was mainly through a remodeled gut microbiota with enhanced anti-inflammatory capacity due to increased induction of Tregs. [Nat Commun]
Full Article

Investigators showed that a large viral load resulted in inhibition of NK cell activation, which correlated with increased expression of Qa-1b, a ligand for inhibitory NK cell receptors. Qa-1b was predominantly upregulated on B cells following lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus infection, and this upregulation was dependent on type I interferons. [Cell Rep]
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Researchers identified a noncanonical pathway for regulation of C-C chemokine ligand 2 (CCL2) production that is mediated by mammalian target of rapamycin complex 1 (mTORC1), but independent of NF-κB. Inhibition of the mTORC1-factor forkhead box K1 (FOXK1) axis attenuated insulin-induced CCL2 production as well as the accumulation of tumor-associated monocytes-macrophages and tumor progression in mice. [Cell Rep]
Full Article | Graphical Abstract

Investigators found that miR-23b, in addition to its reported functions in suppression of IL-17-associated autoimmune inflammation, halted progression of experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis, an animal model of multiple sclerosis, by directly inhibiting migration of pathogenic leukocytes to the central nervous system. [Mol Ther]
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InDex Pharmaceuticals Holding AB announced new scientific data on the mechanism of action of cobitolimod, the company’s lead drug candidate. The findings showed that cobitolimod can modulate the immune system in ulcerative colitis by balancing the mucosal T helper 17/Treg cell response. [InDex Pharmaceuticals Holding AB]
Press Release

Eager to speed development of revolutionary treatments, the Food and Drug Administration recently announced that it would expedite approval of experimental gene therapies. But the regulatory process may not be the biggest obstacle. [The New York Times]
Editorial

Support for traditional medicine in China goes right to the top. President Xi Jinping has called this type of medicine a “gem” of the country’s scientific heritage and promised to give alternative therapies and Western drugs equal government support. Now the country is taking dramatic steps to promote these cures even as researchers raise concerns about such treatments. [Nature News]
Editorial

The United States’s “new hostile policy towards Cuba undermines confidence” in joint research, says Luis Montero-Cabrera, a chemist at the University of Havana. The Trump administration, adds John Van Horn, a neuroscientist at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles, “has likely shut the door to many U.S.-Cuban interactions.” [ScienceInsider]
Editorial